Customers enjoy the bar at El Camino, which was known for its margaritas. (Portland Press Herald photo)

El Camino, the funky Mexican cantina at 15 Cushing St. in Brunswick, has closed.

The restaurant, which had a 15-year run, closed its doors in June after its owners decided it was time to simplify their lives and focus on their other restaurant, Salt Pine Social at 244 Front St. in Bath.

“We’re still in the restaurant business,” said Paul Comaskey, who has been a partner in both restaurants along with his wife, Daphne Comaskey, and her twin sister, Eloise Humphrey. “It’s still what we do. We just don’t want to grind ourselves into the ground.”

Comaskey said several factors came together that helped the partners make their decision to close El Camino, which had a big summer following. During the past two years, he said, he was running El Camino on his own, while the other two partners focused on Salt Pine Social. The Comaskeys lived in the building next to El Camino, and decided they were ready to sell it and move to a smaller house. Plus, El Camino’s licenses were coming up for renewal.

The trio decided it was time to sell both buildings. They wanted to close the restaurant while people still had fond memories, Comaskey said. “We didn’t want to wait until it was not happening,” he said. “We wanted to go out on a high.”

Three or four months before the closure, they started letting their customers know what was going on with the restaurant on social media, Comaskey said, and they held “a huge farewell.”

The building that housed El Camino has been up for sale for eight months now, Comaskey said, but hasn’t yet changed hands.